Montréal Architecture (No.3)
When the elevator was invented in 1853 by Elias Otis the possibilities of building tall started to come together. Several technological developments converged at the end of the nineteenth century including electric light (1879) and steel frame with exterior curtain wall construction. The first skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building (1883-85) in Chicago by William Le Baron Jenney. In Montréal, the evolution of the skyscraper is documented through a number of buildings. There are three basic pre Second World War skyscraper generations. The first generation began in 1888 with the New York Life Insurance building at 511, place d’Armes. At eight storeys, it was Montréal’s first skyscraper. Given the new height potential of skyscrapers, the 1901 building code limited these buildings to ten storeys. This began the second generation.
New York Life Insurance
Date: 1888
Address: 511, place d’Armes
Architects: Babb, Cook, & Willard (New York)
Style: Neo Roman inspired by Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-86) Chicago School
Materials: Scottish red sandstone on 1000 Islands red granite base
Height: 8 storeys
First generation skyscraper
Place d’armes
(left) Édifice de Maisonneuve, Banque de Montréal
formerly Royal Trust
Date: 1913
Address: 105, rue St-Jacques
Architects: McKim, Mead, & White (New York)
Second generation skyscraper
(centre-left) Scottish Life Building
Dates: 1870, 1909 (additions)
Address: 701, Côte de la Place-d’Armes
Architects: Hopkins & Wily, Marchand & Haskell (additions)
Style: Neo Renaissance Classic Italian
Materials: Ohio sandstone on a limestone base
(centre-right) New York Life Insurance
(right) Aldred Building
Place d’armes
(left edge) Aldred Building
(centre) Édifice Duluth
Date: 1925
Address: 84-88, rue Notre-Dame
Height: 10 storeys
Second generation skyscraper
(right) Basilique Notre-Dame
Date: 1829
Address: 110, Notre-Dame ouest
Architect: James O’Donnell
Style: Neo Gothic
The next boost to high-rise construction came in 1924. Although building height was limited to 33 metres (130 feet) from street level, a higher façade could be built when setback above this height by 10 metres (23 feet). Façade setbacks were created in an effort to provide more light at street level. This contributed to the ‘wedding cake’ look of buildings of that era. Towers built between 1924 and the Second World War are thus referred to as third generation skyscrapers. In Montréal, all three generations are within a short walk of each other in Canada’s former financial centre, from Place d’Armes along rue Saint-Jacques to Square Victoria.
Royal Bank of Canada
Date: 1928
Address: 360, rue St-Jacques
Architects: York & Sawyer (New York)
Style: Neo Renaissance
Materials: Stanstead granite and Queenston limestone
Third generation skyscraper
First building to be higher than the Notre-Dame basilica towers
Head office of the Royal Bank before moving to Place Ville-Marie
(right) Aldred Building
Date: 1929-1930
Address: 507, place d’Armes
Architects: Barott & Blackader (Montréal)
Style: Art Déco
Height: 23 storeys
Third generation skyscraper
Sun Life Building
Dates: 1914, 1925, 1931 (phases)
Address: 1155, rue Metcalfe
Architects: Darling & Pearson architects
Third generation skyscraper
After WWII, the next major wave of Montréal high-rise buildings took effect at the end of the 1950s with the erection of Place Ville-Marie (1959-1962). A symbol of post WWII international construction, Place Ville-Marie confirmed the relocation of Montréal’s business centre from rue Saint-Jacques (Saint James Street) in Old Montréal to its current location. The Sun Life building (1914-1931) arguably had begun this transfer before the Depression of the 1930s. As an imposed limit, Montréal does not allow towers to be built higher than the summit of Mont Royal.
Place Ville-Marie
Date: 1959-1962
Address: 1, place Ville-Marie
Architects: Ieoh Ming Pei & Associates and Affleck, Desbarats, Dimakopoulos, Lebensold & Sise
Style: International
Height: 42 storeys
In Montréal’s central business district, the IBM-Marathon tower (1990-1993) marked one of the last skyscrapers built during the post-modernist era just before Montréal’s economic decline in the 1990s. Coinciding with Montréal’s economic upturn, the next wave of commercial tower construction began around 2000 with the beginning of the Quartier International de Montréal. The QIM bridges the former gap between Old Montréal and the modern city centre.
see Montréal Architecture (No.2)
IBM-Marathon
Date: 1990-1993
Address: 1250, René-Lévesque ouest
Architects: Kohn Pederson Fox and Larose Petrucci et Associés
Height: 47 storeys
Tags: Montreal, Urban Design
Montreal Apartments
Ken Gildner says:
Excellent summary of Montréal’s highrise architecture history, Owen! The New York Life Insurance building is surely one of my favourite in town — the sandstone gives it an elegance that puts today’s glass towers to shame.
- Ken
February 19th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Vinny says:
Since Montreal doesn’t have as many beatiful old building like those in Europe we should try to build more and more supertall skysrapers in order to attract investment as well as tourists from all over the world , destroy the height limit from the city… sky is the limit don’t you all agree … time to grow you politians ,do it like Toronto or we all going down the drain in the next ten years …
February 28th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Ben Brown says:
Don’t destroy Montreal with horrible towers like they have destroyed Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary etc. The only thing that keeps Canada different from the US is the European feel to Montreal, Quebec City and Victoria as well as some of the smaller cities across Canada.
Asia is now destroying their cities with ugly glass towers. When will it all end. Most modern buildings are soul-destroying monstrosities. This is best said by James Howard Kunstler in his writings on his website.
http://www.kunstler.com/
June 6th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Violoncello concerto says:
Football_in_Argentina…
UN/LOCODE:USDCH Korkey Butchek VGCC Murdoc Chandler, IN Bialik Adeel Suhrwardy Chua Sock Koong Violoncello concerto OAAU …
June 16th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Toronto houses says:
I can’t agree with you, Ben. I personally like modern architecture. But if you consider the high-rise, modern Toronto houses to be horrible, we cannot much argue with each other. I certainly don’t think that Toronto had been ‘destroyed’.
November 27th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Mary Soderstrom says:
High rise buldings can work, it all depends on how they are integrated into a city’s fabric. Singapore, where at least 85 per cent of the people live in high rise apartments, seems to have found a good balance between dense development, green space, and vibrant street life.
Mary
November 28th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Skyline Observer says:
High-rise buildings are an inevitable necessity in nearly every large city, and has to be accepted rather than fought against. There exist, however, certain architectural and civic parameters that must be observed if the high-rise buildings are to blend harmoniously with older, more traditional architecture. Stringent guidelines regarding, architectural cohesion, style, green space rendered, and approtraiteness of design need to observed. In other Candadian cities, notably Calgary, the high-rise buildings were thrown up along low-density streets, and little architectural cohesion exists there, though Calgary should be nonetheless noted for several uniquely impressive buildings. Vancouver has implemented height-space regulations, and harmonizing design standards with some success. Some streets there work esthetically very well, others less so. Toronto has had to struggle with every high-rise issue imagineable.
Montreal still has the nicest skyine, the most inter-relation between old and new, the best angles of placement, the most beatiful designs (Chateau Champlain, Tour de la Bourse, among others).
Perhaps it’s the French influence, but the city has
done some good work. May it continue to do so *
February 12th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
James Stewart Thom says:
Interesting site. Has anyone heard of a George Stewart who was prominent in high rise architecture in Canada – early 1900’s.
March 14th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Toronto Unique Urban Homes says:
how that brings back memories! I lived in montreal for nearly 8 years, and one of the city’s finest pleasures is a late-night walk. It was absolutely wonderful to stroll Old Montreal and then straight up the main cutting across to St. Denis in the late night hours. I know the city has changed a great deal (hell, there are people LIVING in old montreal again!) but it truly is a superb city to walk.
Bravo!
December 29th, 2008 at 1:18 pm